Monday, April 28, 2008

My sister (let's give her an assumed name, Cordelia, so as not to blow her cover) is determined to go to heaven. To that effect, Cordelia only sins when she's under an umbrella (so God won't see). When she senses God is listening, she makes loud announcements about her plans to bake cookies for priests; and on Sunday mornings she hides under her covers so God won't be able to see that she's in bed instead of at Mass. (God can see through clouds and bedroom ceilings, you see, but not through umbrellas or blankets. You learn these things if you're brought up in a godly manner.)

The point is that if the Man Keeping Score doesn't know that Catherine, I mean Cordelia, has sinned, well then, she hasn't sinned.

Now, I don't believe in God, but I do believe in the authority of librarians. And I also got a big dose of the "sin" mentality growing up, and I have to say, it shows in my library behavior. I know how to break all the rules in the library and never get caught. I have an exemplary library record, I am going to library heaven, but do you have any idea how many sandwiches I ate and how many thermoses of tea I drank in the library yesterday?

Frankly, it's a stupid rule. No eating in the library? Nothing comforting and comfortable should be prohibited in a library (unless it makes loud noises). And besides, the idea behind the no-food rule is to keep the carpets and the furniture clean, and I gotta tell you, the dumb furniture would stay a whole lot cleaner if I didn't have to shove my sandwich into the crevices of this armchair to hide it every time a librarian looks at me.

(That being said, I don't blame that one librarian for getting a bit peeved the time he discovered me pouring Multi-Grain Cheerios and blueberries into an enormous vat of yogurt and stirring it up with a huge spoon. But I was off my game that day. I should've been using an umbrella.)

This random post is brought to you by the life philosophy of my friend Anastasia, aged 5: "I love life because I love sugar and I love everything on my hands!" (This philosophy is particularly applicable while eating a messy pizza bagel.)

Hello :) Yes, I am almost a year behind on this, but as a librarian, I just wanted to let you know that I, too, eat in the library. At the desk. In plain view for all to see. But that’s because I am not going to be the one making the mess. Clearly. And I’m in charge, so I can do what I want! Anyway, that got away from me a bit. What I mean to say is, after seeing how many books come back to us covered in unidentifiable food stuffs, it only seems right that we allow people to eat in the library and really enjoy their experience. Or not starve if they become engulfed in their work and forget things like time and sustenance. Maybe they would be more careful that way, too. Also, food and drink is not the only way to dirty up our furniture, so I would stop hiding your food in it from now on. ;) Lastly, and I promise I am finished after this, hooray for people using libraries! Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.

"Then, at last, sitting on her stretcher-bed, she took from the very bottom of her pack an old peacock-blue scarf folded around a heavy, square book. She unwrapped it and opened it very carefully, as if guilty secrets might fall from between its pages like pressed flowers. This was Harry's secret. She was a writer."

-from The Tricksters, by Margaret Mahy

Writing is my secret. Every day I unwrap and open it as carefully as I can. Welcome to my blog about writing and life! Above you'll find quick links about me and my books, and below is more about me, ways to subscribe, and an archive of past posts. Click here to go home to my most recent posts.

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About the Author

Kristin Cashore wrote the New York Times bestsellers Graceling, Fire, and most recently, Bitterblue, all of which have been named ALA Best Books for Young Adults. Graceling is the winner of the 2009 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature and Fire is the winner of the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award. The books are world travelers, currently scheduled to be published in thirty-three languages.

Finally, a note: This blog is my only online presence. I am not on Facebook, Google+, or any other social media sites, and I use Twitter solely as an amalgamation feed for my blog. Sorry, but I do not read @-replies on Twitter!